Bed section construction for sofa sleepers



March 24, 1970 Filed July 5, 1968 BED SECTION CONSTRUCTION FOR SOFA SLEEPERS A. J. 'MlKos 3,501,785

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March 24, 1970 A A. J. MlKos 3,501,785

` BED SECTION CONSTRUCTION FOR SOFA SLEEPERS Filed July 5, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l5 Z5Q United States Patent O 3,501,785 BED SECTION CONSTRUCTION FOR SOFA SLEEPERS Aloysius J. Mikos, Skokie, Ill., assignor to The Seng Company, a corporation of Illinois Filed July 5, 1968, Ser. No. 742,907 Int. Cl. A47c 17/04, 17/00 U.S. CL 5-13 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A sofa sleeper which has a bed frame consisting of a plurality of pivotally connected bed sections with wire mesh means carried in the sections for supporting a mattress, and linkage means supporting the bed frame in a sofa frame for movement between a folded position within the sofa frame and an extended bed position projecting out of the sofa frame, in which a -bed section which has an inner rail adjacent the back of the sofa frame in sofa position has the inner rail offset out of the plane of the parallel bed rails to which it is rigidly connected, so that the inner rail acts as a mattress stop, and in which the wire mesh mattress supporting means is connected to the offset inner rail by a plurality of L-shaped wire links, each of said links having a irst leg generally in the plane of the wire mesh means and pivotally connected thereto, and a second leg secured to the oifset inner rail.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Sofa sleepers conventionally consist either of three or four pivotally connected bed sections which are supported in a sofa frame upon links for movement between a folded position within the sofa frame and an extended bed position extending over the front rail of the Sofa frame. Wire mesh means is tensioned in the bed frame to support a mattress which may be an innerspring mattress, a foam rubber mattress, or a foam plastic mattress. In any case, the mattress has suicient stiffness that when the bed frame is folded into the sofa frame the folded mattress tends to be forced across an inner side of the bed frame which is near the back 0f the sofa frame in folded position, so that a mattress stop must be provided along said inner side.

In a four-section sofa sleeper the inner side is at the head of the bed, while in a three-section sofa sleeper the inner side is along a longitudinal side of the bed. In either case, the inner side is adjacent the back of the sofa frame when the bed frame is folded.

Commonly a sofa sleeper has its inner rail, which is adjacent and parallel to the back of the sofa frame in folded position, provided with a separate upstanding bracket which acts as a mattress stop, or in accordance with FOX Patent 2,900,646 a pair of swinging arms which support the head of a four-section bed may be provided with a cross bar which is so located as to serve as a mattress stop when the bed frame is folded.

Each of the above described prior art structures requires eXtra parts and increase the cost of manufacturing a sofa sleeper.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention, a bed section which has an inner rail that is adjacent the back of the sofa frarne in folded position is constructed with said inner rail odset from the plane of the parallel rail to which it is connected at its two ends, the direction of offset being such that the inner rail is above the parallel rails in the extended ibed position of the bed frame. The mattress supporting wire mesh means is coplanar ACC with the parallel bed rails and secured thereto, and is connected to the offset inner rail by meansof a plurality of L-shaped wire hook links, each of which has a rst leg generally in the plane of the wire mesh means and pivotally connected thereto, and a second leg secured to the offset inner rail `by means of an integral hook which engages a hole in the inner rail.

Preferably the inner rail is tubular in form, and has flattened end portions which are bent at right angles to the tube and riveted to the parallel rails. The integral hook means on the second leg of each of the L-shaped wire links is hooked inside the tube.

In a four-section sofa sleeper the offset inner rail is the head rail of the bed. In a three-section sofa sleeper an offset rail may be used at one or both sides of the bed frame. In either case, the offset rail is parallel to the back of the sofa frame and is close to the back when the bed frame is folded within the sofa frame.

The present structure eliminates the need for any separate components serving as a mattress stop along the inner rail of the folding bed frame.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary sectional view of the rear portion of a sofa frame in which is mounted a folding bed frame having an inner section embodying the present invention, the bed frame being illustrated in extended bed position;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. l illustrating the folding bed structure in folded position;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view 0f one corner of an inner bed section embodying the invention;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary section on an enlarged scale taken substantially as illustrated along the line 4 4 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary section taken substantially as indicated along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to the drawings in greater detail, and referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, the structure at both ends of a sofa frame, indicated generally at 10 and at both sides of a folding bed structure, indicated generally at 15, is identical; so only one side of the structure is illustrated in the drawings.

The sofa frame 10 includes an end frame assembly, indicated generally at 11, consisting of a lower end panel 11a, an upper panel 11b, and a connecting end member 11e. The sofa frame 10 has a back consisting of a panel 12, an inclined rear frame 13 to receive upholstery 13a, and surmounting each of the end assemblies is an arm member 14.

The folding bed structure 15 as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 is like the folding bed structure disclosed and claimed in my Patent 3,284,814, to which reference may be made for further information concerning the mechanism. For purposes of the present invention, it is necessary to illustrate only mounting brackets 16a and 16b, a Supporting linkage including swinging inner support arm 17, and parts of the remainder of the supporting linkage which is indicated by the reference numerals 18 and 19.

The linkage including the inner arm 17 and the links 18 and 19 mounts a bed frame, indicated generally at 20, for movement between a folded position as seen in FIG. 2 and an extended bed position as seen in FIG. 1. The only bed sections illustrated in the present drawings are an inner bed section, indicated generally at 21, and an outer bed section 22. As shown in my Patent 3,284,814, the bed structure 20' here illustrated is a four-section folding bed which folds with the inner section 21 in an upright position immediately in front of the back 12 of the sofa frame, and with the outer section 22 generally horizontal. The folding bed structure also includes awire mesh mattress supporting means, indicated generally at 23, and as is usual in folding sofa sleeper bed structures the wire mesh means 23 is suspended within the bed frame by helical tension springs 24.

As described up to this point the mechanism is no different from that of my Patent 3,284,814, and the present invention will now be described.

The inner bed section 21 consists of parallel rails 25 in the form of angle members that are parallel to the ends 11 of the sofa frame, and an inner rail 26 connects the parallel rails 25. As best seen in FIGS. 3 to 5, the inner rail 26 consists of a tube 27 which has end portions 28 that are flat and bent at right angles to the tube 27 so that they are parallel to upright webs 25a of the parallel rails 25 and may be riveted to said webs. As best seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, the tube 27 has a series of aligned holes 27a.

The inner rail 26 is parallel to the back 12 of the sofa frame, and as seen in FIG. 2 in the folded position of the mechanism the inner rail 26 is close adjacent the back 12 of the sofa frame in that position.

The tube 27 is offset from the plane of the parallel rails and the wire mesh 23 so that, in the bed position of FIG. l, the tube 27 is above the plane of the parallel rails 25 and the wire mesh 23; while in the folded position of FIG. 2 the parallel rails 25 are closer to the sofa back 12 than is the offset tu-be 27.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. 3 to 5, the wire mesh mattress support 23 is secured to the tube 27 by L-shaped wire links, indicated generally at 30. Each of said L-shaped links 30 includes a first leg 31 which is generally in the plane of the wire mesh 23 and has at its outer end a hook 31a which is hooked into a loop 23a in the wire mesh 23. A second leg 32 of the L-shaped link 30 extends through one of the holes 27a in the tube 27 and has an integral hook 32a engaged within the tube 27 As best seen in FIG. 4, the holes 27a of the tube 27, within which are the hooks 32a, are positioned slightly around the circumference of the tube 27 away from the wire mesh 23. An accurate description of the position of the holes 27a is that they are in a quadrant of the cross section of the tube which is farther from the wire mesh means 23 than is a vertical radial plane V through the tube, and which is below a horizontal radial plane H through the tube. This position of the holes 27a causes the leg 32 to be held in tension across the margin of the hole 27a, as seen in FIG. 4, so as to maintain tension upon the wire mesh 23. By comparison, if the holes 27a were at the bottom of the tube on the vertical plane V the wire links 30 could swing a substantial distance in the direction of the wire mesh 23 and thus not hold the latter in tension.

It is apparent from the foregoing detailed description that the inner bed section structure of the present invention may be utilized either in a four-section folding bed as illustrated in the drawings, or in a three-section folding Ibed of the type which is well known in the art. It is also apparent that the structure of the bed section 21, utilizing the offset tube 27 and the wire links 30, provides a stop for the 'mattress without the necessity of fabricating and assembling any extra components as is necessary in the prior art sofa sleeper structures.

The foregoing detailed description is given for clearness of understanding only and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom as modifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art,

I claim:

1. In a sofa sleeper which has a sofa frame including ends and a back, a bed frame consisting of a plurality of pivotally connected bed sections with wire mesh means carried in said sections for supporting a mattress, and linkage means supporting said bed frame in said sofa frame for movement between a folded position within the sofa frame and an extended bed position projecting out of the sofa frame, a bed section which has an inner rail adjacent the back of the sofa frame in folded position comprising, in combination: a pair of parallel rails which are adjacent the ends of the sofa frame, said parallel rails being coplanar with each other and with that portion of the wire mesh means which is between them; an inner rail connecting said parallel rails, said inner rail being parallel to the yback of the sofa frame and being offset from the plane of said parallel rails in a direction which positions it above the parallel rails in the extended bed position of the bed frame; and a plurality of L-shaped wire links, each of said links having a rst leg generally in the plane of the wire mesh means and pivotally connected thereto, and a second leg secured to said inner rail.

2. The combination of claim 1 in which the inner rail has a series of aligned holes, and in which the second leg of each wire link has integral hook means engaged with one of the holes.

3. The combination of claim 1 in which the inner rail is a tube that has flat end portions which are parallel to the parallel rails and riveted thereto.

4. The combination of claim 3 in which the inner rail has a series of aligned holes, and in which the second leg of each wire link has an end portion extending through one of said holes and provided with an integral hook engaged within the tube.

5. The combination of claim 4 in which the holes in the tube are positioned in a quadrant of the cross section of the tube which, in extended bed position, is farther from the wire mesh means than is a vertical radial plane through the tube and which is below a horizontal radial plane through the tube.

6. The combination of claim 1 in which the inner rail is farther from the back of the sofa frame in folded position than are the parallel rails.

7. The combination of claim 1 in which the inner rail has a series of aligned holes, and in which the second leg of each wire link has hook means engaged with one of the holes, the location of the holes being such that the second leg adjacent the hook means abuts a portion of the inner rail and is stressed by the tension of the wire mesh means.

`8. The combination of claim 7 in which the inner rail is a tube, and the holes in the tube are positioned in a quadrant of the cross section of the tube which, in extended bed position, is farther from the wire mesh means than is a vertical radial plane through the tube and which is below a horizontal radial plane through the tube.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,900,646 `8/1959 Fox 5-13 3,005,211 10/1961 Pokorny 5-13 3,300,792 1/1967 Spitz 5-13 CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner Us. C1. XR, 5-51- 

